It is not every day that the idea of a club emerges from number-crunching assignments. Yet Brandt Stewart, a junior accounting major, felt a lack of collaborative spirit in his studies, calling his classes a “nose to the paper” environment, so he created UM Jam Club.
“I wanted to find other music people,” Stewart said. “I was in (the) honors college one night and asked myself, ‘What does it even take to make a club?’”
Stewart later found out that he needed only three people to form a club after reading through prerequisites on the ForUM at the end of 2024 fall semester. The club first began meeting regularly in January, and now meets once a week on Thursdays at 6 p.m.
The club, to Stewart’s surprise, grew quickly, reaching 238 followers on Instagram since its inception in January — over 79 times the size of his initial hopes.
“It’s really just an indescribable feeling of ecstasy,” Stewart, who plays the guitar, said. “I think it changes a lot of people and can affect you in a really big way, not just purely through the music, but through people you meet, experiences you have and opportunities you may get.”
Andres Torrado, a senior computer science major, was one of the first members and commented on the club’s exponential growth.
“I’m really proud of what this group has become,” Torrado said. “It’s just been so much fun connecting with others through music.”
McKenley Coleman, a junior marketing major and social media manager of UM Jam Club, was largely responsible for building the club’s online persona. The main priority, Coleman said, was to create an environment that welcomes musical experimentation and new music circles.
“Based on my observations of being (at UM) for a couple of years, I think that this university has a tendency to have bubbles,” Coleman said. “There are people who are in their little bubbles, and they don’t really interact with other people, and I think that music would be a really special way to kind of burst those bubbles. Seeing a small glimpse of that (during the jam session) really made me happy.”
For Coleman, a vocalist with aspirations to learn to play bass, music transformed her experience on campus, helping her build independent platforms outside of UM Jam Club, particularly her Rebel Radio show “Women Who Rock,” where she highlights women-fronted rock and metal bands, including the likes of VIOLENT VIRA and Jinjer.
“I would have never anticipated being so passionate about the radio until I started doing it, and now it’s like my baby,” Coleman said. “Sharing music like that is so special, and I think that everybody on campus would benefit from having that sort of unity with music.”
Several members in the club, ranging from percussionists, guitarists and vocalists, all shared a musical itch that needed to be scratched.
Torrado, having played the guitar for several years, describes music as an outlet in which he immerses himself.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve always been very connected to music,” Torrado said. “I play and sing all the time. It’s how I de-stress, and for me, it’s like playing a game. It’s a way to disengage from everything.”
Bryce Prestage, a freshman accounting major, comes from Nashville, a cultural hub of music.
Attending Ole Miss was not an easy decision — alongside leaving home, Prestage also created distance from his band Dissonance, with which he has played since his junior year of high school.
“I was freaking out,” Prestage said. “I was figuring out how to meet new people, and I was looking through the giant list on that (ForUM) website and found (UM Jam Club) on there. Then my mom texted me later about it saying, ‘Hey, there’s a jam thing. You have to join it.’”
After attending the last jam session, Prestage, who plays bass and guitar, was fully engaged. Even talks of a new band, centered around the Midwest emo genre, engulfed Prestage’s mind as he spoke with other members.
“In jamming, especially, it’s important to hammer in on what your specialty is and use that to help with other people’s stuff they’re doing,” Prestage said. “People don’t delve into their own niches enough, and a lot of people don’t respect others’ niches as well as they should.”
Music spaces have evolved and leaned more towards streaming services, with Spotify alone bringing in 696 million monthly active users in July 2025.
Prestage, however, argues that despite its popularity, digital media loses the important aspects of live music.
“I am a big believer in watching live concerts and live play-throughs, rather than full recordings on sites like Spotify,” Prestage said. “The performance of music isn’t just them playing. It’s what they look like, what they’re doing, how they’re moving, how they’re playing. Specifically, all of that makes a big difference.”
Madison Jacobs, a sophomore general studies major, believes a musician’s performance holds as much weight as their musical delivery. From her experiences as a vocalist, she said, performance shares similarities with acting, in that both require characterization to create the full musical experience.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to look ugly when you sing,” Jacobs said. “You shouldn’t be afraid to sound a little ugly. If you are hurting what you’re singing, you gotta let that out, or else it’ll sound bad if you don’t.”
Jacobs also describes the current music discourse as vague and ambiguous, where artists prioritize making a quick buck over bringing back emotion.
“People are losing compassion and empathy,” Jacobs said. “I feel like people are being taught that you shouldn’t have those (emotions), which is not true. We’re not here to bicker at each other. Why can’t we feel everybody’s pain?”
This emotional connection is what the UM Jam Club strives to foster among its musicians. The organizers intend for the club to continue growing, with jam sessions helping young artists take center stage and perform for their community.
“I think that it’s just so important for people to have music that feels special to them,” Coleman said. “It’s so important for people to have a community of musicians that respect you and respect your art and want to hear what you’re interested in.”
